KL Rahul ruled out of South Africa series due to injury

KL Rahul, the skipper of the Indian team for the series against South Africa, has been ruled out due to an injury. Along with the right-handed batter, Kuldeep Yadav has also been ruled out owing to injury. 

"KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav are ruled out of the South Africa series owing to injury. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant as Captain and Hardik Pandya as vice-captain for the home series against South Africa, the BCCI shared on its Twitter handle.

While the 30-year-old has sustained a right groin injury, Kuldeep was hit on the hand last evening and is ruled out of the tournament. 

Hard to accept but I begin another challenge today. Gutted not to be leading the side for the first time at home, but the boys have all my support from the sidelines.Heartfelt thanks to all for your support.Wishing Rishabh and the boys all the luck for the series.See you soon🏏💙

— K L Rahul (@klrahul) June 8, 2022

India are without their key players, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah for the series. With Rahul set to miss out as well, the top-order of the Indian side will be relatively inexperienced. 

The upcoming series also would have been an ideal opportunity for Kuldeep to stake a claim for himself in the T20 World Cup squad later this year in Australia.

The five-match T20I series will start on Thursday, June 9 in Delhi.